A History of the NASA

Kurzzusammenfassung

A History of the Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!Original document contains a graphic at this position! National Aeronautics and Space Administration by Daniel Wolf, 1997 Ausarbeitung zum Spez

Fachbereich:	Geschichte
Sprache:	Englisch
Wörter:	4500
Note:	n.v.

A History of the NASA

A History of the
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!Original document contains a graphic at this position!

National Aeronautics and Space
Administration


by Daniel Wolf, 1997
Ausarbeitung zum Spezialgebiet
Englisch


Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!Original document contains a graphic at this position!


CONTENTS
Chapter 1 - The origins of the NASA
Chapter 2 - The foundation of the
NASA
Chapter 3 - The race for the Moon
Chapter 4 - The Shuttle Program
Chapter 5 -
Chapter 6 - Other Nations’ Space
Programs
Introduction

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the US
government agency responsible for the development of advanced aviation and space
technology and for space exploration. It is an independent civilian agency
responsible directly to the president of the United States.
NASA`s roots go back to 1915, when a federal agency was needed to stimulate
the growth of American aeronautics, which was then lagging behind European
developments.


Chapter 1 - The origins of NASA

The National Advisory Comitee for Aeronautics was founded in 1915. Although
it were the American Wright brothers, who made the first controlled flight in an
airplane, the United States soon lagged behind the Eurpoeans in aviation
techniques. Because of World War I, the Europeans forced the development of new
aircrafts. As a consequence, scientists within the United States demanded a
national organization, which would help the States to keep pace with the rapid
developments in aeronautics - the NACA.
For fiscal 1915, the fledgling organization received a budget of $5000, an
annual appropriation that remained constant for the next five years. This was
not much even by standards of that time, but it must be remembered that this was
an advisory committee only, ”to supervise and direct the scientific study
of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical
solutions.”
Once the NACA isolated a problem, its study and solution was generally done
by a government agency or university laboratory. The main committee of 12
members met semiannually in Washington. An Executive Committee of seven members,
chosen from the main committee living in the Washington area, supervised the
NACA`s activities and kept track of aeronautical problems to be considered for
action.
The first NACA research center was opened at Langley in Hampton, Virginia.
In a wartime environment, the NACA was soon busy. It evaluated aeronautical
queries from the Army, conducted experiments and ran engine tests. From the
beginning the NACA was not a military organization, however it’s research
work while World War I focused on military affairs and the Langley Memorial
Aeronautical Laboratory was built on a US Army Base. Soon a small airfield and a
wind tunnel for aerodynamics testing were set up. Although after the war, the
Army transferred its research facilities to Dayton, Ohio, military influence at
Langley remained high. In 1920 the NACA owned a airfield, a wind tunnel, a small
dynamometer lab, a warehouse and a administration building. With a total staff
of 11 people there was plenty room to grow. The Universities over the country
began to offer education in aeronautics theory and engineering. Young engineers
joined the NACA and the Langley’s staff went up to 100 in 1925. During the
‘20s and ‘30s, NACA research turned the art of aeronautics into a
disciplined engineering profession. Military and private airplane designs
greatly benefited from NACA’s research, which led to improved wing shapes
and engines and retractable landing gears. With more and more commercial
airlines in business, the research also concentrated on maximum passenger safety
and comfort.
After a while, a new field of aeronautical research emerged: Rocketry.
Inspired by Jules Verne and others, scientists around the world became
increasingly interested in Rocketry. NACA conducted some rocket experiments,
which not only led to the use of rockets by the United States armed services in
World War II, but later also led to the development of jet propulsion engines,
which replaced the older propeller engines. The NACA - born in response to
European progress in aeronautics - benefited through the employment of
Europeans, and profited from a continuous interaction with the European
community.
Hitler’s Germany stopped to share its research results in expectation
of the second World War. The ”Verein für Raumschiffahrt”, which
employed the famous Wernher von Braun, was very successful in developing rockets
and jet propulsion and therefore the Germans were the only nation, which used
ground to ground rockets during the war (The V-2 rocket, Vengance-2). They also
put the only WWII jetfighter plane in the skies, the Messerschmitt Me-262 - in
1945, shortly before Germanys surrender and therefore too late to play an active
role in the european air war.
For the NACA, the war was a pretty good reason to let the government
multiply their resources and fundings. For example: the NACA counted 426 staff
at Langley in 1938. After the war, in 1945 total personnel at Langley exceeded
3000 people. In 1941 a second Laboratory, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory in
California, followed in 1942 by the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Ohio
were established. NACA’s success in producing fast and manoeuvrable planes
gave the US Air Force the deciding edge in aerial combat during WWII.
In October 1942, America`s first jet plane, took to the air over a remote
area of the California desert. There were no official NACA representatives
present. The NACA, in fact, did not even know the aircraft existed, and the
engine was based entirely on a top secret British design. After the war, the
failure of the United States to develop jet engines and supersonic designs was
generally blamed on the NACA. Critics argued that the NACA, as
America`s
premier aeronautical establishment (one which presumably led the world in
successful aviation technology) had somehow allowed leadership to slip to the
British and the Germans during the late 1930s and during World War II. The US
secret service initiated the ”Operation Paperclip”, a high-level
government plan to scoop up leading German scientists and engineers during the
closing months of World War II.
Following the war, the NACA, with German scientists know-how, increasingly
focused on jet propulsion and the attainment of even higher altitudes and
speeds. In 1947 the NACA X-1 (eXperimental jet-1) was the first plane to brake
the sound barrier and go supersonic (Mach 1 equals the speed of sound. The
designation is named after the Austrian physicist, Ernst Mach).
Helicopters, introduced into limited combat service at the end of World War
II, entered both military and civilian service in the postwar era. The value of
helicopters in medical evacuation was demonstrated in Korea, and a variety of
helicopter operations proliferated in the late 1950s. The NACA flight-tested new
designs to help define handling qualities. Using wind tunnel experience,
researchers also developed a series of special helicopter airfoil sections, and
a rotor test tower aided research in many other areas.
All of this postwar aeronautical activity received respectful and
enthusiastic attention from press and public. Although the phenomenon of flight
continued to enjoy extensive press coverage, events in the late 1950s suddenly
caused aviation to share the limelight with space flight.
Among the legacies of World War II was a glittering array of new
technologies spawned by the massive military effort. Atomic energy, radar, radio
telemetry, the computer, the large rocket, and the jet engine seemed destined to
shape the world`s destiny in the next three decades and heavily influence the
rest of the century. The world`s political order had been drastically altered by
the war. Much of Europe and Asia were in ashes. On opposite sides of the world
stood the United States and the Soviet Union, newly made into superpowers. It
soon became apparent that they would test each other`s mettle many times before
a balance of power stabilized. And each nation moved quickly to exploit the new
technologies.
The atomic bomb was the most obvious and most immediately threatening
technological change from World War II. Both superpowers sought the best
strategic systems that could deliver the bomb across the intercontinental
distances that separated them. Jet-powered bombers were an obvious extension of
the wartime and both nations began putting them
into service. The intercontinental rocket held great theoretical promise,
but seemed much further down the technological road. Atomic bombs were bulky and
heavy. A rocket to [...]

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